Kevin Oliver

Boston Rocks

With my beloved Boston Celtics back in the NBA Finals for the first time in a long time, it seems like a good time to remember that Beantown is almost as good a rock ‘n’ roll town as is is a basketball town. In my perfect sports world, Boston would sweep the Lakers in four games (though I’m enough of a realist to know that they probably will take at least five games). Here, then, are four quick reasons that Boston rocks.

1. Aerosmith — Not the watered-down, Diane Warren infected version of the later period, but the early years of drugs and debauchery when they seemed just a little nasty, not like parents of other famous people. “Toys in the Attic” is a classic in anyone’s book, and even their Run DMC collaboration on “Walk This Way” is pretty cool, though it did usher in the unfortunate phenomenon of rap-rock.

2. The Neighborhoods — The greatest band to not quite make it out of Boston, I’ve commented on this band’s legendary live performances before, so I’ll just leave it at this:

3. Boston — If they’d stopped at the first album, Boston would still be remembered fondly by a generation of teenagers raised on what we now call “Classic Rock.” It’s not cool as a music critic to like this band, but the original band, and that debut, rocked. Check out this clip from 1979 for proof:

4. Mission Of Burma — One of those, “influential” bands that not many people heard when they were together but tons of bands list as a primary influence, Mission of Burma harnessed the energy of punk with machine-like precision and some great, great songs. They are also one of the few bands to get back together after a long, long hiatus and not make albums that suck.